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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28968435">Knautia</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryquartz/pseuds/cherryquartz'>cherryquartz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Adventure Zone (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Asexual Character, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Pining, Relationship(s), Romance, both are asexual, the adventure zone - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:21:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28968435</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryquartz/pseuds/cherryquartz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitzroy is enamored by a lower-class elf woman, who is pretty neutral towards him. What do you do when the unstoppable Thunder King wants to hold your hand very badly?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>sir fitzroy maplecourt/original character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Knautia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first fic in a long while, I haven't wrote anything since high school. Sage is pretty much my self insert (lol shout out to lesbians who love fictional boywifes) so yeah thats whats going on with me. Any notes or comments are welcomed!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning starts like any other morning for Sage.<br/>Sunlight has yet to pour into her tiny bedroom, a star or two still hangs out in the velvet sky. Some people would still consider it to be night, if not the fact the sun would be rising in less than an hour. The elf woman stands up, not as straight or gracefully as she used to. She passed a small mirror, the reflection was a small elf woman, hair braided into a loose crown, eye heavy lidded. She lazily headed towards a small dresser (covered in vines and old books), pulling out her overalls and reaching down for a pair of heavily worn boots. Stomping down the hall she took notice her mother and aunt were already departed to their own jobs. <br/>Thankfully, they both had their own “clean” jobs (sewing and shoe mending), ones that did not involve shoving their hands into dirt. She wishes she could go back in time and kick her younger self for choosing such a icky hobby. But that would hurt, and those boots were heavy. Working with plants had its ups and downs, she was less equipped with dealing with people, but she got used to it. She locked the door to her shared home and ventured into the woods towards Swanpass Village.<br/>Swanpass was a decent place to live, rare to be the victim crime or tragedies, naturally Sage`s remaining family thought it`ll be a suitable home. The winters were mild, and the rain helped with the hot summers. Perfect weather for growing herbs. <br/>Sage watered her succulents while absent-mindedly chewing on a mint leaf. Suddenly, the door to her shop swung open (there is a clear sign saying to be cautious, which seems to be an afterthought) and flew in a fairy holding a small card. <br/>“HEY!” The fairy screeched to a halt in front of Sage`s face.<br/>	“What's this?” Sage took off her bandana, and wiped sweat off her forehead, it was noon now and the sun was giving her a hard time, the shop got extremely hot without a breeze.</p>
<p>“The Thundermen! They are renting a venue east of the village for a big party and decided they would have the village people help arrange it!” The fairy chirped out, struggling to get a good grip on the card.</p>
<p>Sage was hesitant to accept.</p>
<p>“It`ll be a paid gig, of course.” The fairy gritted through their teeth.</p>
<p>She gingerly took the card from the fairy.</p>
<p>“Ah! I see, are they asking us or is this an order…?” Sage was fairly sure the Thunder King owned Swanpass Village (there were too many banners with his symbol and crepe shops for it not to be).<br/>“Oh no! They just thought it`ll be nice to support the village people at all… Businesses supporting business.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sage nodded, reading over the card. A month and a half to prepare… a decoration of a lighting symbol made with daylilies and primrose. A case Poppy Seed tea, to be served iced and hot, lovely. Doable, but a waste of good flowers, maybe she could resell them after the celebration, but yellow flowers are not flying off the shelves either… While the elf mentally juggled with how to make good use of the flowers, the fairy grew most impatient.</p>
<p>“Ahem, so you in, or what? I got to find a DJ and someone who knows how to do balloon animals by 2pm.”<br/>“Oh, yes! I`ll do it, sorry.” Sage tucked the card into her overall pocket.<br/>“Great! You just confirm with Fitzroy, he wants to have a little meeting with everyone before we get started.”<br/>Sage tilted her head. “Fritzroy…?”<br/>“Fitzroy, the Thunder King's real name? Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt! You really did not know his real name? Geez, the meeting is at 3pm tomorrow at the venue, don't be late!” And they were gone.</p>
<p>“Maplecourt...” Sage giggled at the name of the villain who had multiple armies at his disposal.</p>
<p>Sage pursed her lips together, her family would not like her working for the group of men who caused their lives to, quite literally, blow up in smoke. Nearly a year ago, a demon escaped Hell when the Thundermen reopened the portal connecting Nua`s dimension with the Hellscape dimension. Her mother, Fern, suggested as soon as they got enough gold, they should all sue. Her aunt, Aster, was reluctant, but would follow suit if her sister did decide to sue the three most powerful men on Nua. <br/>Sage didn't want that, revenge wasn't to bring their family back, but her mother was stubborn. She just now ceased her rants about those “wicked” Thundermen, and settled into the groove of being a non-royal. This would surely be bad if she found out. But that cash though, the Thundermen knew how to spurge. Sage would be daft to pass up an opportunity like this. It had to be in secret, just for this month and a half. Sage was greeted by her aunt, who had made dinner already, potato soup and rosemary bread. A recipe they all grew to love in the last year.</p>
<p>“I`ll be working later these next two months.” Sage entangled her fingers together, staring at the imperfections on the table, trying to find the right words. “The flowers need more tending to now that it's approaching fall.”</p>
<p>Her aunt did not look up from her book. </p>
<p>“Mhm, your mother is doing the same, who knew you two would be the ones to be the workaholics.”</p>
<p>“In our blood, I guess.”</p>
<p>Sage stood up and excused herself to her room. <br/>After a long shower, she sat on her bed.  Damp, towel still wrapped around her. If they really are paying a good amount, she could get her own place. Maybe a place where she could live in a small apartment on top of her shop, avoiding walking 20 minutes from home at dusk. She fell asleep dreaming about the joys of being a single elf, something she never did before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day was like the days before it. Wake up, and work for too long for too little. She almost forgot about the meeting, until she saw the card the fairy gave her, folded up in her bag. She was a bit embarrassed, showing up to the fancy venue in an old shirt and baggy pants, but she had no time to head back home to change. She got there around 3:04, kinda late but it looked like it was just more village people scattered on the lawn, some sitting by a fountain. Sage was a little disappointed, maybe it was a joke all along.</p>
<p>She walked up to a dwarf, fixing her lips to ask if he knew what was going on, but a crack of thunder rippled and cracked throughout the sky. Out of thin air, the Thunder King had appeared right in front of the fountain. He was tall, with a stylish haircut and a face that didn't quite match his body. It was like God had copied and pasted a nerd's face onto a professional boxer's body. He was dressed in a snazzy purple cloak with yellow swirls at the bottom. He had a shit eating grin taped on his face as everyone oh and awed at his presence.<br/>“Hello, party people, or party...making people? Have not decided on what to exactly call y’all as a whole, yet. We can figure that out as we go.”<br/>“Oddly chatty for a villain”, Sage thought out loud, the dwarf beside her chuckled.</p>
<p>“Any who, as the fairy mentioned the day before, I`m throwing a little jamboree for my colleagues/BFFS, celebrating the beauty of our friendship. Now, that may sound like a tall order, but I know y’all can do it!” He grinned wider, there were lines forming under his eyes when he did that, Sage could not help finding that to be the most endearing part of him. For a split second you two made eye contact. Before he spoke again.<br/>“I got the sickest plan y’all, I'm sure you have your own ideas, so I took so time out of my insanely busy schedule to spitball some cool ideas to pair mine!” He manifested a little chart and squinted at it. <br/>“First off is, uh, Randy Silverhawk? The animal tamer?”<br/>The dwarf raised his hand, “Aye!”<br/>“Okay, you’re in charge of the petting zoo, try to find animals that won’t do too much bodily harm for me. Thank you. Ferrah Baker, the baker, you already know what is up. You are on crepe duty. Tsk, Ryder Hunt you're doing the rest of the food catering and...” The Thunder King eyebrows knitted.<br/>“Sage, Sage Evergrove?” He looked over Sage in the process of finding her. </p>
<p>She grew shy, waving at the Thunder King while sheepishly avoiding his gaze. “Right, right here, sir. I`m the florist.”</p>
<p>An untrained eye would have looked over his surprise, he did not expect Sage to be so close to his age. “Ah yes! Let’s see, you're working on the lightning bolt flower arrangement, and a special tea for the guests.” He gave Sage a nervous smile, his ears were turning red, this was a bad idea. <br/>Sage nodded, equally as nervous as him, did he know? He had to know it was her, Evergrove was not a common surname, and her mother definitely sent the Thunderman LLC angry letters before. He knew, but did he know before today? Sage head raced the rest of the meeting, which seemed to go on and on. Thunder King gave her a look that implied he had some explaining to do. Once they all went over the grand plan and gave out suggestions, TK gave everyone their schedules and sent them on their way. Sage wandered up to the second story of the venue, pretending to get measures for her arrangement. <br/>“So.” A voice called out behind her. “Just want to say, sorry for releasing a demon from hell. And sorry that demon destroyed your castle.” <br/>Sage held her breathe, turning to see the half-elf king apologizing to her. He had a pained look on his face, his face was pale. “I... can’t even imagine what you've been through, because of me...” <br/>“Thunder King…”</p>
<p>“Fitzroy, or Sir Fitzroy, or Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, please.” </p>
<p>A small piece of her wanted to smile, he liked that name more?</p>
<p>“Fitzroy, you don't have to apologize for the actions of a mindless demon. I am not my mother, is this why you are the fairy to me? So, you can apologize?” You did not understand why he of all people felt the need to say sorry, a villain would not shed a tear at her situation.</p>
<p>“Your mom did send me a pretty crass letter last summer, not going to lie, kinda hurt my feelings. Lots of cuss words, but that is neither here nor there. No, I had no idea until just literally an hour ago, however, I'm happy I get to finally talk to one of the Evergroves that doesn’t think I'm a real asshole.” He gave her a weak smile, the lines appeared under his eyes again, and she felt whelmed by several emotions. “I guess I wanted to make things right, and I knew your mother wouldn't understand so-.’<br/>“She wouldn't, I fear even telling her I'm helping you.” Sage blurted out; out of habit she began fidgeting.<br/>“I don't want you to get in trouble because of me-.”</p>
<p>“You're not, it’s my choice, I could have said no.”</p>
<p>“Of course!” Fitzroy squeaked, “Even now, I wouldn't hold that against you. I can just give you the gold and find another florist if you like.”  </p>
<p>That did not sit right with her, and for the wrong reasons, she wanted to work with him. </p>
<p>Sage folded her arms and frowned. “I will not accept handouts, Sir Fitzroy. Your apology was accepted, but don't think you can throw money at me until I go away.”</p>
<p>Fitzroy stood up straight, intense eyes burning into Sage. Little specks of electricity flowed around him almost like he was holding back. For a second, Sage thought she was dead for sure, but then he relaxed.</p>
<p> “That's something I can admire, but I am more than happy to help if you need it. It's getting dark, you should head home now, I`ll see you next week.”</p>
<p>“Stay safe.” Sage walked past the half-elf, down the stairs and through the woods.</p>
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